A Course in Miracles Journal (Day 4)

Background: Welcome to my year-long exploration of "A Course in Miracles," where each day unfolds a new layer of understanding and healing using this unique and vibrant text. This blog chronicles my personal exploration through daily text readings and workbook exercises, offering insights into the profound teachings of forgiveness, love, and perception shifts. The day’s text reading and exercise numbers are in the title of the entry. Join me as we uncover the miracles behind healing and transformation into the spiritually powerful beings we were created to be. 

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Todays Entry:

Text

Chapter 1, IV: The Escape from Darkness

Today’s reading is both obvious yet simply stated in a way that makes me want to reread today’s entire section. I am also going to apply it to my mind, the pains from yesterday, and the concepts of wealth and abundance as I do so.

1.iv.2.11. “The mind that serves spirit is invulnerable.”

I love this line from my first read-through as it’s a kind reminder to my active mind that as it holds onto and retains what it has learned in habit, observation, and self-validation, it is, in fact, admitting its own vulnerability—or, in these cases as listed, its weaknesses.

It becomes self-evident to my mind that it is holding onto its now-weakness in each of these thought patterns. Therefore, the ideal way forward is to let go of what it claims it needed to hold onto.

Okay, time to reread today’s passages…

“There is nothing you want to hide, even if you could.”

I love this too, as we tend to hide from our own inner truths, fearful of our real selves, while in truth, all we seek is to be in direct connection with who we really are by shedding all the darkness in the pathway.

“When you become willing to hide nothing, you will […] understand peace and joy.”

TRUTH! And a reason I love plant medicine.

“…errors, which are merely lacks of love.”

So beautiful and kinder than “sin” and “sinners!” Yes, it is true that, as the workbook has been showing me, words have the values we assign to them. Yet, I feel my upbringing around the word “sin” was a heavy dialogue of the Bible, Bible school, private school teachings, and a church community’s harsh judgments regarding such things.

Even American politics are tinged with putrid evils over the emotively charged association with the word.

Workbook

As I accurately predicted with yesterday’s lesson, today was about applying the concept of “this does not mean anything” to one’s thoughts.

In fact, each of the last day’s exercises I naturally progressed into the next day’s lesson without being aware I was doing so!

Today’s lesson is a line I am ready to be armed with, as there has been a regular sequence of negative thoughts that play in my mind each day. While I have decreased their emotional impact in recent weeks, the thought patterns still exist—resilient in some way—yet weakened by their conscious exposure.

The thoughts are: “I am not ready,” “I am unworthy,” “I am not lovable,” “It’s not good enough,” “I am not good enough.” Though, they are often said to myself by myself in the second person form: “You’re not good enough.”

Today’s lesson arms me with a neutralizing retort: “This thought does not mean anything.”

That helps neutralize the negative impacts the terse statements were having on me. A small, yet profoundly impactful shift.

After practicing this, I found myself expanding the phrase to the memories being triggered.

Thought images from memories sprang to my mind as I began replying to the negative thoughts with the lesson’s retort. I applied the response to the memory, images, feelings, and all energetic presence—they do not mean anything.

The more I practiced, both with any thoughts and with the memories, I could still feel the energetic shifts in my mind—in my third eye/crown chakra range—but also a strong secondary presence in my throat/chest/mouth region.

The feelings were present in a few parts of the throat chakra, with the majority being in my upper teeth and jaw.

I also found humor in realizing the book and its statements do not mean anything. Visions of a blank-paged book came to mind as well as the idea of, “Does the book even exist as I hold it?”

Touch does not equate to reality nor truth.

The explanation for today’s lesson calls me (the reader) out as “inexperienced.” Which, one, does not mean anything (hehe), but also triggered both my ego and my humility.

Ego, because I feel I am more familiar with these practices and teachings than many are (I think) when they begin this book (as evidenced by my predictive application of the next lesson each of the first four days). Humility, because I honor that I have a long way to go and am excited to see where I am later on this path.

It also reassures me that there is more of this type of practice coming—which is exactly the type of practice I am in need of (we all are by our nature).

I am feeling excitement and thrill after today’s lesson! Ready for tomorrow’s Lesson 5.

With Love, Acacia

“All quotes are from A Course in Miracles, copyright ©1992, 1999, 2007 by the Foundation for Inner Peace, 448 Ignacio Blvd., #306, Novato, CA 94949, www.acim.org, used with permission.”