Course Meets World
Greg's Page
Welcome! As its title suggests, the primary purpose of this page is to explore the relationship between A Course in Miracles and the larger world. This exploration will take two forms. The first is examining the relationship between the Course and other ideas and thought systems—for example, other spiritual paths. The second is offering a Course perspective on things in the news, such as current events, social trends, and hot topics in popular culture (especially in the field of spirituality).
On this page, you will find a listing of articles dealing with these topics. You will also find links to my personal blog, our ACIM dialogue page, and my Course Q & A page. Enjoy!
- Course Q & A
- Greg's blog This is a place where I will post my thoughts and reflections on various Course topics, whenever I feel I have something to share. While I don't plan to update this at a regular time interval (like once a week), I will try my best to do so frequently.
- ACIM dialog We at the Circle are committed to fostering healthy, respectful dialogue about A Course in Miracles. On this page, we invite two kinds of dialogue. First, we invite academics and authors from other fields to enter into dialogue with us about how the perspectives of A Course in Miracles relate to the perspectives of their field, discipline, or thought system. Second, we invite Course writers and teachers to enter into dialogue with us about issues of Course interpretation-questions of what exactly the Course teaches.
- God Is Love and Life Is Eternal: Applying Section 27 of the Manual to the Asian Tsunami Disaster by Greg Mackie. The death and destruction spawned by the earthquake and tsunami in Asia has shocked and saddened the entire world. For those with religious inclinations, it has once again brought up an age-old question: How can we reconcile such tragic death and destruction with a loving Creator? Section 27 of the Manual ("What Is Death?") offers a radical and liberating answer: We can’t, and we shouldn’t try. This is truly joyous news, for if death and destruction are not of God (and are not even real), then we need not be afraid of Him and can trust Him completely. God is only Love, and life is eternal.
- What the Iraq Prison Abuse Scandal Reveals: Looking Calmly at the Monster and Letting It Go by Greg Mackie. The recent revelations of severe prisoner abuse by American military personnel in Iraq have shocked people throughout the world. In this article, Greg shows that the horrors of Abu Graib Prison are reflections of the ego "monster" that lives in all of us. Looking at this monster calmly without blinders gives us a precious opportunity to let it go through forgiveness.
- Above the battleground: Applying the Course to the Iraq War by Greg Mackie. Greg says, "Forgiveness entails looking upon all of the conflict in our world from a higher vantage point: a place above the battleground. With the Holy Spirit's help, we can look upon the Iraq war with Christ's vision." The article includes a lengthy visualization for rising above the battleground, written by Robert Perry.
- Above the battleground: Our thoughts on the September 11 terrorist attack by Robert Perry & Greg Mackie & Allen Watson.
- Each Day Should Be Devoted to Miracles: Reflections on the Terrorist Attack of September 11 by Greg Mackie & Robert Perry. A look at September 11 from a Course perspective, written in the week following the tragic events. This article is a meditation on the darkness revealed by the attack, the light of the Course's teaching that this darkness is not ultimately real, and the hope that September 11 can serve as a call to God's miracle workers to heal the world.
The Course and Other Thought Systems
- God's Word or Human Words? The Quest for Truth in Elaine Pagels's Beyond Belief and in the Course Community by Greg Mackie. How can we tell the difference between the word of God and mere human words? Do we listen to what the authorities tell us or rely on personal experience alone? Or is there another way? Based on Elaine Pagels's bestselling book Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, this essay explores Pagels's account of the conflict in early Christianity between heterodox "spiritual Christians" and the orthodox Christianity that eventually triumphed. It then applies what Pagels says about Christianity to the Course community and offers an answer to the question of how we Course students can discern truth within our own developing tradition.
- Practice-Oriented Spirituality: Unleashing the Power of Conscious Commitment by Greg Mackie. Based on a book by prominent sociologist Robert Wuthnow, this article examines three different ways of living the spiritual life: dwelling-oriented spirituality, seeking-oriented spirituality, and practice-oriented spirituality. Embracing the Course as practice-oriented spirituality offers huge benefits because it unleashes the power of conscious commitment—the key to successfully taking hold of the glorious promises of the Course.
- What Is the Christmas Story For? by Greg Mackie. A comparison of the original Gospel writers' purpose for writing what became our Christmas story with the reinterpretation of that story's imagery in A Course in Miracles. While the Gospel writers wrote it to exalt Jesus, the Jesus of the Course uses it to exalt everyone.
- There is No Salvation in Form by Robert Perry. A look at the many ways we try to find our salvation in some form, rather than in the formless love of God.
- Traditional Monastic Pursuit in the Context of Contemporary Society by Robert Perry. A companion piece to the "How Can A Course in Miracles Accomplish its purpose?" article, showing how the Course advocates the dedication and seriousness of a monk, but in the context of an ordinary, fully engaged (not isolated) lifestyle.
- How Does A Course in Miracles Regard the Lord's Prayer? by Robert Perry. Especially for those of us who grew up in church, this question is relevant. Should we continue to use the Lord's Prayer, discard it, or reinterpret it?
- How the Course Views the Bible by Allen Watson. How the Course Views the Bible by Allen Watson. An excerpt from his book, Seeing the Bible Differently, this article presents a broad overview of the way the Course interprets the Bible.
- A Joint Portrait of Jesus by Robert Perry. Parallels between the Jesus of history and the author of A Course in Miracles. Condensed from the article below entitled "Who Was the Jesus of History, and Did He Write A Course in Miracles?"
- Who Was the Jesus of History and Did He Write A Course in Miracles? by Robert Perry. In this article, Robert explores the title question by comparing the Jesus of the Course with the historical Jesus as seen through the eyes of Marcus Borg, a leading historical Jesus scholar.
- What Does the Shroud of Turin Mean? by Robert Perry. This link takes you to an article on www.shroud.com, the most respected website on the Shroud of Turin. The article explores the possible significance of the Shroud as "Jesus' own gospel, his way of communicating to posterity the same message he taught during his life." Inspired by the work of the Jesus Seminar and by the Course's interpretation of the crucifixion and resurrection.
- Miracles Boomeritis by Robert Perry. "Boomeritis" is a term coined by transpersonal philosopher Ken Wilber to describe the pervasive cultural mindset of our time. This mindset, which Wilber believes began with the "baby boomer" generation, says that there is no absolute truth, there is only my truth and your truth, and therefore "Nobody tells me what to do!" In this article, Robert asks: Do we Course students have boomeritis? Are boomeritis and the Course compatible? What do we do about this issue?
- Course Meets World Commentary by Greg Mackie. On this page, I will post a short weekly commentary relating A Course in Miracles to a topic "in the news."
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