I have no more words to say …
A Motley Mystic Monday Moment based on Lesson 296 from A Course in Miracles: "The Holy Spirit speaks through me today."
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Welcome to the Motley Mystic Monday Moment. Each week I'll be providing you with a tool you can use for your spiritual growth and giving you an invitation to think differently about your spirituality and how you're connecting with the Divine (God, the Universe, the Holy – however you may understand this overall life-giving force).
Several years ago, I wrote columns for a website called Religion Dispatches. I had a lot to say about topics at the intersection of religion and politics. One day, my editor asked me to write a piece very quickly about a celebrity known for anti-gay statements and actions. I wrote the piece in less than 30 minutes.
A fellow writer remarked in an email: “Wow, you are a machine.”
I certainly was. I could churn out commentary criticizing opponents of liberal ideas and causes in a New York minute. I had a lot to say. I had a lot of grievances to offer.
I’ve been a student of A Course in Miracles for at least the past three years and what I find these days is that I don’t have a lot to say about those who oppose the things I believe to be right and true. It’s not that I’m not dedicated to my causes anymore. I am – maybe even more so than before.
What I learned as a student of the Course is this: You can have a grievance, or you can have a miracle.
There’s a part of me that wishes I was still a machine that could churn out cutting critical commentary. There’s a higher part of me that now understands, though, that if I fill the world with grievances, I won’t be able to be a conduit for miracles.
My causes have not changed, but my perception has. I no longer see those who oppose my ideas as enemies. I see them as people who, like me, are caught up in the illusion. They, like me, are driven by their ego and their ego tells them that they must fight for what they believe in – and that fighting looks like tearing down the “other side,” demonizing and dehumanizing them, shaming them or marginalizing them.
This is not how we save the world. Grievances only beget more grievances and the miracles that could surely save this world are deflected. I don’t want to be a part of that system anymore – but I do want to speak out for love instead of fear. Only now when I speak, I do it more deliberately, more thoughtfully. Hopefully, what I do eventually speak or write comes not from my ego’s fearful grievances, but from my true, Divine Self – the Holy Spirit – speaking through me.
Lesson 296 in the daily workbook from A Course in Miracles says the Holy Spirit needs our voices. We are not to be silent when there is suffering and injustice going on – but we are to listen closely for the words and actions that can cause suffering to cease, not to increase. When we speak and act from our integrity – from that true, divine self of Divine Love – then we allow that Love to persuade the world through us, this lesson says.
We have a choice in which voice we channel out into this world. We can be the spokesperson for the ego or for Holy Spirit. The ego only broadcasts criticism, anger, fear, hatred and grievance. The ego talks about how unfair the world is, how evil others are, how they need to be “taken out,” or “defeated.”
The Holy Spirit’s message is only that of Love. It understands that every voiced grievance is a call for a Loving response. That Loving response unifies instead of divides. It seeks to see the common suffering each human is experiencing, even if their views of the world are polar opposites. When I allow Holy Spirit to speak through me, my words are gentle and kind, but at the same time they have the power of love behind them so they pierce to the heart of the matter – our common yearning to be free from suffering and enter into an unquenchable joy.
I’ve talked too long for the ego and it reaped nothing but kudos from those who agreed and scorn from those who disagreed. Nobody’s mind was ever changed by any of the various arguments I put forth. All those words … and still we suffer.
I don’t write critical commentaries anymore. I’ve found that I’m quite incapable of it these days, because my ear is tuned differently. I can see, hear and read the daily, even moment-by-moment, grievances the ego still broadcasts into the world, but my frequency is tuned to a different station these days. I seek to broadcast only what Holy Spirit would have me say.
This lesson from the Course says this kind of living – teaching love because that is what we are – is “the easy path to God,” and I have found it to be true. Now, instead of feeling smarmy about how I “owned” by opponents, I feel grateful that I can be used to speak words of peace and Love.
Those words have the power to change the world in ways that words of grievance will never have – because those kind, gentle words invite miracles that will “rescue us from hell.”
You can quote me on that.
Your task this week:
I invite you this week to take a break from your grievances. Instead of going on Facebook posting about how awful the world is and how it would be better without "those people" in it – find a way to connect with those you consider different from yourself. We have no enemies. We are all connected together in the mind and heart of God. Instead of seeing those who disagree with you as your enemies or opponents, see them as they are – innocent spirits, having a bodily experience of being caught up in the strong pull of ego that keeps us all battling ourselves and one another.
Ask Holy Spirit for the words to say – even if you only say them in your head to the other person. Whatever level you choose to connect on, whether it's with words on some social media platform, in person, or with your heart, they'll hear your message at some level. Don't judge their reaction, just know that you're planting seeds of love that one day can take root.
Practice being willing to see the best in everyone. Even just a little willingness to cut each other some slack and realize we're all doing the best with what we have at the moment can soften even the hardest of hearts.
We have the power to damn the world or to set it free. In those moments you find yourself damning it, I invite you to pause, breathe deeply, and choose again. Your little willingness will allow the Holy spirit to "rescue us from hell" and find that easy path to God together.
Music for the Journey
“No More Words” by Berlin
About the Motley Mystic:
The Motley Mystic is an online community for people who have realized that the truth speaks with many voices. There is no one religion, philosophy, institution or dogma that captures the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. No one needs to swear allegiance to one line of thought or belief to discern Truth, because Love is the only thing that’s real. That’s what we explore at the Motley Mystic - all the tools and strategies we need to remove our barriers to Love and live fully as our true, Divine Self.
Candace Chellew is the founder of Motley Mystic as well Jubilee! Circle, an interfaith spiritual community in Columbia, S.C. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass. She is also a musician and avid beer drinker.