Cameo 1: This is Not a Selfish Gift

January 1, 2021    

In this cameo essay the catalyst for a teaching learning opportunity is Helen asking Jesus how Bill can overcome whatever is interfering with his meditation and about Bill’s list. 

In the process of asking on Bill’s behalf Helen is given a clear message about how to discern the guidance she is receiving. She is instructed on how to ask and whether to ask for someone else.

Remember that these inner visions and paranormal experiences Helen has been having are new to her. It is a good idea to consider how disorienting these experiences may have been for her. It is quite natural to become frightened in a process such as this and therefore, the whole teaching that results can be viewed as a window to our own experience with the Course.

Meditation

o   Try not to disengage abruptly but “ask if that is all.”

o   Meditate with confidence, claim your rights, remember that Jesus will keep his promises.

o   Learn concentration. Here I am Lord is suggested as a short phrase to help Bill pull his mind slowly from everywhere else and centre his mind “on these words.”

o   Do not mistake another’s role as one you should have. This will cause a dangerous imbalance in your mind.

In the process of asking about Bill and his list, Helen seems to get bogged down and ends up going through a difficult period of sorting out what has happened. Jesus is very firm with her about examining her thought process. This is valuable training on the need for discernment and becoming aware of our thought process.

Jesus interrupts the flow of dictation to say “Stop” and then “Be Careful” and “again be very careful.”

Through examining Helen’s journey of getting here with Jesus we see that she has consistently rejected the offering of the ego in favour of God’s and this is what Jesus is teaching her to do in a deeper more aware way.

Discernment

o   “Christ says I can tell something is wrong whenever I get a ‘snappy’ answer. He wouldn’t say ‘Tell him to get his own list’ that way. The tone is wrong.”

I have found this single quote to be one of the most important in discerning guidance. It is crucial to examine our guidance thoroughly in order to be open to the leanings of our ego. Be open to the fear within ourselves that have us leaping to conclusions that suit our need for comfort and safety. Be willing to examine it long enough for this kind of guidance to awareness to come through.

The other important idea that is demonstrated in this cameo essay is Helen’s understanding that her abilities are not just for her. She decides that “This is not a selfish gift, and it is a real one. It has to be used for others, particularly [Bill].”

If we are to understand the Course as Jesus is teaching us, we must cultivate acceptance that what we are doing is a gift to all our brothers, especially the ones we have the most difficulty truly and unconditionally loving. We also want to accept that the abilities we have developed, whether they are latent in us or fully accessible to us are gifts to be given to God in the form of our offering to our brothers. As we can see when Helen realized her gifts were for everyone, she cleared the way for the Course to come through.

Suggested Practice:

Try to enter into your morning and evening meditations with Jesus’ suggestions to Bill:

Work on better concentration using the short phrase offered to Bill

“Here I am Lord.” 

Think, “I am here Lord. I am inviting you into my presence by being prepared to enter yours.” Don’t think anything else. Just pull in your mind slowly from everywhere else and center it on these words. Practice with confidence, claiming your right to this communion with God. Put all of your attention on being fully present to God. Use the phrase whenever your mind “flits about.”

You may want to ask for guidance about your day and wait patiently for the answer, asking “is this all?” before cutting off communication.

Every hour and frequently between pause from your busy doing and repeat this thought reconnecting with the words and what they mean.

You may want to use it as a response to temptation, pausing from your own judgments and asking Jesus what he would have you use your gifts for instead.