Michele

It is just so nice to be back with Course of Miracles group. Reading aloud in a group and group discussion is just so much better than getting stuck trying to pull emotional trains all by yourself. You get out of your own head better.

Everyone has 'issues' and we all have a self that collects everyone of them. An 'issue' on personal attacks was inadvertantly set off by someone who never intended their question to upset me so. I automatically started pulling that whole train.

Not surprisingly; for me...the lesson at Course of Miracles group was focused around handling personal attacks.

Having been the subject of personal attacks in an uncontrolled environment it is good to see this material again after so long. And...I find that instead of using the affirmations that are there, I had found other things that served the same purpose. For example, yesterday I talked about how humor. The affirmation itself is "I will there to be light. Darkness is not my will" So, our discussion was centered on how to "lighten up". For me, over the last 20 years that I have not been in a Course of Miracles group and immersed in a workplace that was a study in hatefulness - I still followed the Course work almost without conscious direction. I exit pulling that whole emotional train internally by lightening up a little bit. By finding a perspective that is 'funny'. That lightens up the moment and I don't have to participate in all that dark environment. Sometimes the humor is very dark itself, but it is still humor and is always the first step out of painful emotional garbage.

Course of Miracles work is different for me than orthodox religions because it makes me work the problems. Not just pray for solutions. I create those solutions.

I must say it is also nice to be back in social groups that focus on being nice and practice social graces.