Drinking the Kool-Aid

“Mind training?!  I don’t know about this. I’m very careful about who or what I let mess with my mind.”

So I said to my ACIM teacher the first time I met with her one-on-one. At my request, she was explaining the curriculum and the learning process of A Course in Miracles. I could feel myself tense up as I equated mind training with brain washing. Images of indoctrination, cults, and “drinking the Kool-Aid” flashed through my brain.

But…I wanted to hear more; learn more. Since I had already read portions of the Big Blue book, I knew that something within its messages called to me. So, I stayed. And, I heard more and learned more. I was willing to give it a shot but I made a promise to myself that I would remain ever vigilant for the troops that might come to abduct me and take me to the secret camp.

Fast-forward five years. As a committed student of the Course I have a broader vantage point from which to base my decisions. And, I am not writing this from some hut on that feared illusion of a camp!

Let’s talk about mind training. It’s what goes on day-in-and-day-out from the moment we are born. Much of it can be extremely positive and helpful to the developing child. Many messages keep the child safe, help him/her to develop appropriate boundaries and learn social norms. But many messages can be harmful to the innate goodness of that child.

Take careful note of the some of the messages that you may have received from well meaning adults:

·      “Be careful of him.  He’s one of those.”

·      “Stay away from her. She’s not like us.”

·      “Avoid that part of town.”

·      “He’s so lazy that he’s not worth our time or energy.”

·      “You’re not as good as your brother.”

·      “I wish you were as smart as your sister.”

·      “Make sure you don’t get too fat. You won’t look pretty.”

·      Add some of the message that you received that did more to deflate you than raise you up.

What about some of the messages we’ve heard from the pulpit?

·      “In order to enter the Gates of Heaven you must make sacrifices.”

·      “You cannot be a member of our church because you are gay/lesbian and you’re sinful.”

·      “Your sins will separate you from God.”

·      “You will go to Hell if you if you commit mortal sins.”

·      “God does not permit women to become priests.”

·      “Only the chosen may receive communion.”

·      What messages have you heard that do more to separate you from others and convince you that you are separate from God?

And the media, what role have they played in mind training?

·      It’s your choice: Be thin or be ugly

·      Youth is coveted over the aging. Get rid of those wrinkles.

·      Men are powerful and assertive and are given the floor to speak. Women are whiney, and weak bitches when they disagree with those in charge.

·      Drive this car and you’ll be admired.

·      Wear these clothes and you’ll be cool.

·      Live in this neighborhood and you’ll be accepted

·      Buy our product and you’ll be admired.

·      I’m sure you could spout off product jingles, law firm phone numbers and prescription drug promises. Want to give it a try to see how they’ve gotten into your head?

You want to talk about mind training? Look at and listen to the messages that you are bombarded with on a daily basis! What do these messages do to your self-worth, your state of mind, and your independent thinking?

And I was worried about the mind training of A Course in Miracles? It is messages of the Course that seek to undo the too-numerous negative messages that we have absorbed. It is through the indoctrinated messages of some ill-informed adults, religions and the media that we have been force-fed the Kool-Aid.

Take a look at only some of the lessons (from the Workbook) that the Course asks us to consider and practice…reminding us that we always have free will whether to follow Jesus’ messages or those of the ego:

·      There is another way of looking at the world. W-33

·      I could see peace instead of this. W-34

·      I am the light of the world. W-6

·      I am as God created me. W-110

·      Let me remember that I am one with God. W-124

·      I walk with God in perfect holiness. W-156

·      I choose the joy of God instead of pain. W-190

·      I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt. W-284

·      Eternal holiness abides in me. W-299

·      Judgment and love are opposites.  From one come all the sorrows of the world.  But from the other comes the peace of God Himself. W-352

Tell me please, which messages would you rather have received as child, those that encouraged you to fear others, to keep yourself apart from others and to see them or yourself as less-than? And what about the messages where your mind was trained to believe that God loves only some of His children and rejects others? You have free will remember. Which do you choose?

Here’s my choice: I choose the joy of God instead of pain.

 Photo of Barb Adams by Sue Gavron (c) 2014

Barbara Franco Adams is a ministerial student with the Pathways of Light ministries.

What Do I Choose to See?

By looking through my body’s eyes 

and perceiving with my wrong-mind

I see a world of illusions,

 Of hate, separation, fear, discrimination, attack and vengeance.

If I allow myself to judge my brothers and sisters 

and make them special.

I either embrace them in higher esteem, or

I hold them below me and laud my accomplishments 

and false beliefs over them.

By looking at the world through my body’s eyes

and perceiving with my wrong-mind,

I plug into the interpretations of ego.

I place this false idol on the throne 

and bow to her self-heralded greatness.

Through this I suffer.

Through this I insist that my brothers and sisters suffer.

“But wait,” says Christ.

(He whispers in my ear.)

“Wait, My sister. You have a choice:

Between suffering by choosing judgment and specialness, or

Love through forgiveness with its promised gifts of peace and joy.

Through Christ Vision you offer these gifts 

to not only your brothers and sisters,

But you gain them all for yourself.

Remember:

What you give you receive.

Which do you choose?”

“Oh, my Blessed Christ! I choose Love.

I choose to walk with You, to follow You, to hold Your Hand.

I choose to see others with Christ Vision

So that when I look at my brothers and sisters,

I look upon them with corrected, 20/20 True Perception.”

“By viewing through Your eyes, hearing with Your ears 

and reaching out with Your hands,

I will see the Truth of my brothers and sisters, 

and of myself.

I will hear the Truth of their words.

I will feel the Truth of their Love as we hold on to each other

And walk as One with You.

I choose You, Dear Christ!

I choose, You.”

Photos and blog by

Barbara Franco Adams

October 2015

I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

I Am the Light of the World. W-61

A Course in Miracles

Foundation for Inner Peace, 2^nd Edition

As I was going through a bunch of old papers last week, I came across something that I had scribed in 2002. At the time, I was an assistant principal at a middle school and (too) much of my time was spent dealing with the disciplinary referrals sent to me by teachers who believed that they had exhausted the tools in their toolbox for dealing with disruptive students. Let it be said that most teachers had a good handle on how to apply the Code of Conduct while allowing the students to maintain their dignity. But a very few saw only with their eyes and not their hearts, and for whatever reasons withheld the very thing that many unruly students truly needed: love and respect…or for those not comfortable with the L-word in schools, insert caring and respect.

Kids know when you love them/care for them. They gravitate toward you and they trust you. Once that is established, the sky’s the limit! Not only can teaching and learning take place, but the classroom can be a place of solace and joy. It is that for which I strove in my room and then later within the four walls of my administrative office.

On October 3, 2002 a young African American girl was written up by one of the few teachers who chose not to look beyond her own fear, and who didn’t take the time to get to know this young girl who had transferred to our suburban school from the city.

Across from my desk, 8^th grader, Nyiesha sat with her head bowed down. Aloud, I read the referral, which was written in large bold handwriting and brash language that described an uncooperative, angry child. I asked this young girl to tell me what she believed had occurred in the classroom, and she complied. Somehow the two accounts didn’t reconcile.

Seeing tears running down her beautiful black cheeks, I asked Nyiesha if she were happy in her new school.

“Uh-uh. No, Mam,” she said softly.

“Were you happy in your other school, in the city?”

“Yes, Mam.”

I remember that I sat there for a while thinking and reflecting, my heart aching for the little one across from me.  “Nyiesha,” I asked, “do you know many people here yet?” She silently moved her head from side-to-side. “And, do many people know you?”

“No.”

Again, we sat in silence while I conjured an image and offered it up. “Nyiesha, if you could stand on the stage in the auditorium and look out at all of the students and adults, what do you think you would see?”

She thought for quite a long time before responding. As the young girl rendered her litany, her voice slowly ascended into a crescendo like that of a preacher at the pulpit, I took notes (and later formatted them to what you see below).

When I stand on the stage and look out at all of the students of this school

I see

Some students who are respectful

Some students who are disrespectful

I see

Some students who are nice and treat each other as equals

I see

Some students who don’t care and

Some students who do care and don’t worry about what others think

I see

Some students who don’t like school

And some students who do like school

I see

Some students who came to learn and can ignore the ones who don’t want to learn

When I look out at the adults at my school

I see

Some who pay attention to kids and are teaching them how to behave;

teaching them how to learn, and not hang out on the streets

I see

Some adults who don’t respect kids and treat them mean

“And you, Nyiesha, standing on that stage in front of the entire school, what would you like everyone to know about you?  About who you are?”

Who am I?

I am respectful to others

I treat others equally

I come to school to pay attention and ignore others who don’t

I pay attention to teachers because they teach you right from wrong

I see myself as a role model

Someone who is sweet, gentle and smart

I am someone, who in 6^th grade was awarded the

Model Citizen Award

All ten months of the school year

I want them to know this Nyiesha

When she was finished, she sat back in her chair looking at me with her head held high. We smiled at each other and I thought:
 

This Nyiesha, who is immersed in a totally foreign environment and is just trying to get by.

This Nyiesha, who is alone and friendless two months into the school year.

This Nyiesha, who isn’t shown love/care and respect, but instead is isolated and dismissed.

This Nyiesha, who was honored as a Model Citizen all ten months of her 6^th grade year.

This Nyiesha, who if looked at through the eyes of love would have been seen as

The Light of the World.

The Illusion and Reality of Who We Are

Illusion

 

Reality