July 17, 2012

This week the group has requested we discuss the Preface, particularly the sections “What it is,” and What it says.” We request that you read the Preface before the class tonight, if you can. It is only six pages long.

The Course is a teaching device. Its purpose is to give us the tools we need to change our perception, our thinking, and see and think in line with Spirit. It will not tell us what to think or what we see and perceive. It will teach us the tools we can use, if we choose, to access Divine vision and thinking which we already have access to within our own being. We have just lost contact with that Divine within. The Course teaches us how to let Spirit guide us on our journey to the resource already within each of us. It teaches us the tools we can use to rediscover our True Self and our connection with the One who created us ad still sees us as we were created and as we still are.

We need not understand every little thing in the Course. Some tools and techniques and tools will resonate within us while others may be difficult and perplexing. One of the deepest lessons we can learn from the Course is that we are never alone. We need never deal with anything facing us without assistance and guidance. All we ever need do is ask for guidance no matter what the appearance of any situation in which we find ourselves. The lessons and tools of the Course, when applied, will lead us out of confusion and loneliness into peace, love, joy, and happiness. Isn’t that what we are really seeking?

The Text, the first book of the Course, is the theory and the explanation of the changes we need to make. The Workbook for Students, the second book, is comprised of 365 lessons designed to be done one each day for a year, though one need not keep that schedule. This is the practical application of the Course concepts and Principles. The lessons teach us how, step by step, to deconstruct the way we have learned to think and perceive, and learn new ways to think and perceive from the Divine within us we have lost touch with. It teaches us how to rely on the teacher within us for the guidance we need. The Manual for Teachers, the third book, looks at the same lessons and principles from another perspective in a Q&A format ad clarifies some of the terms used in the Course.

All together the Course offers a life changing experience if we are willing to do what it asks. We may find the going tough at times. We may find some of the tools too far fetched for us. The Course doesn’t ask us to swallow everything. It asks us to be open to